Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade plays back to back

Dwyane Wade played in both games of a back-to-back for the first time since Jan. 4 and 5.

The guard said the fact Miami had lost three games in a row played no part in his decision-making process; he just felt healthy enough to play Monday.

“I played a lot of minutes [in Sunday’s loss to the Bulls],” Wade said before the game. “I came in [Monday], got a good workout in, and felt good enough to give it a shot. We’ll see how the game goes and see how I progress.”

Wade played 40 minutes during the overtime loss to Chicago, the most he’s played all season. He scored 25 points and added four assists and five rebounds. On Monday, Wade played 33 minutes 27 seconds and scored 22 points in the Heat’s 99-90 victory over the Wizards.

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Coach Erik Spoelstra said Wade passed all the protocols before being allowed to play.

“He has to go through a series of things with his routine,” the Heat coach said. “Once he is able to do that, he is able to play and each day is different.”

Center Greg Oden sat out Monday night’s game to rest his knees after playing nine minutes in the loss to the Bulls Sunday afternoon.

This is the eighth game Oden has missed since he made his season debut Jan. 15 in Washington. Oden has averaged three points and two rebounds per game in a little more than eight minutes during his 16 appearances this season.

Record setting

Miami struggled in rebounding in the first quarter against Washington and rewrote the record book in the process.

The Wizards set a season-high for Heat opponents with 11 offensive rebounds in the first quarter. In comparison, Miami only had eight rebounds total in the quarter, all of them on the defensive end.

Marcin Gortat was at the center of it all for Washington, grabbing 10 rebounds, the most by an opponent against Miami in a quarter this season.

Gortat did most of his damage on the offensive glass with seven offensive rebounds, which ties the franchise record for most offensive rebounds against the Heat in a quarter.

Liggins back

A day after playing 40 minutes and scoring 13 points for the Sioux Falls Skyforce of the NBA Developmental League, DeAndre Liggins was in Miami for the Heat’s game against the Wizards.

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Liggins signed a second 10-day contract over the weekend after playing only one minute during his previous 10-day stint last month. Liggins was not dressed for the game, but was on the active list for only the third time in seven games.

The Kentucky product has played for three different organizations in his first three years in the league and is averaging less than two points per contest in 57 games played. He scored two points in his only appearance for Miami.